Punting on the River Moss
by TitaniaFaerie
Summary: 4 young questors travel by boat along the River Moss in hopes of reaching Redwall Abbey as soon as possible, but an unexpected encounter delays them.


Punting on the River Moss

"Auugh!! I you can't be serious!! I will never, /ever/ go in there!" Mossa let out a shriek when she saw the river they would be traveling on and ran for it.

Anubis, a jet black fox clad in a vermin style outfit, twirled the punting pole around in his paws and grumbled to the dark colored pine martin standing next to him.

"Well, now you've done it, Artemis, it will take all day just to catch her.

Artemis watched the badger who was running like a madbeast speed far away from the rather mild stream. Her short temper was at a snapping point. She had had enough of these angsty, winy teenagers in the 3 day trip and she wasn't going to take anymore nonsense. Clenching a fist she rounded on the cheeky fox.

"That's enough! You teens have been winning and giving me no peace for the whole trip and I won't stand any more of it! Mossa is giving me enough difficulty without you standing there making snooty remarks! Now do something useful and get in the boat!" she hissed through gritted teeth Her voice was somewhat of a startler as it came out in a thin, lispy rasp.

Anubis jumped backward out of the way. "Okay, Arty dear, getting right to it!"

Artemis shook with anger. But Anubis was the least of her problems now. She had to find that hydrophobic badger and somehow get her in the boat.

She left Anubis and her young, jittery, apprentice, Reneah, to load up the boat started to follow Mossa's trail.

Artemis was a good tracker and Mossa had left and obvious trail, so it took only of about 15 minutes to find her.

"Mossa Silverback, come here now!" Artemis hissed angrily into the cave where Mossa had taken refuge.

"I'm not coming out! And I'm not getting in any stupid boat! I refuse!"

"Mossa, come on, we need to get back to the abbey, you can just stay in the middle of the boat and not do any work, I promise!"

Mossa poked her head out, whimpering. "What if we tip over?"

"A bribe.... Some sort of bribe..." thought Artemis.

"If the boat tips over I promise I will get you a new set of paints."

Mossa's ears pricked up at this. She was a good and avid artist, but the only paint colors she currently had where blue, black, brown, green and red. Mossa could see she had the upper paw.

"Make that a set of 10 colors and it's a deal!"

Artemis sighed. "All right. Deal. Now /come on/...."

As Artemis crawled into the punt she was surprised to see Anubis climb up to the punter's position.

"So, you're poling then?" she asked, secretly relieved as she had a feeling Anubis would be better at it then her.

Anubis nodded and dug the pole into the riverbank and the boat was pushed gently but quickly down stream.

Reneah, a pretty but jittery young albino hare, and Artemis' apprentice in the art of spying trailed a silvery white paw in the water and sighed.

She had no desire what so ever to become a spy, but she felt it her duty. She was painfully shy and jumped at her own shadow, but her whole family had been top spies back at Salamandastron. Artemis was a skilled spy and nobeast could have wished for a better mentor, but Reneah still was unhappy.

"Why do you have to do something just because your family does? Why can't you do something /you/ want to do?" Mossa had argued. Reneah wished she could be like the badger. Multi-talented ( her talents being art, writing, poetry, sewing and archery) and completely comfortable with /herself/. Reneah envied and admired Mossa.

She glanced back in the middle of the boat.

Well, maybe there where some traits of Mossa she didn't envy.

Mossa was curled at the punt's bottom with her stripes turned a disgusting shade of green and she looked as though she was going to barf.

"Well," Reneah thought, "At least I get along just fine with the waterway-"

BAM!

Something big rocked the boat. Mossa let out a sound that sounded something like "Heeiaagh!!!!" and Anubis had to dig the pole into the bank to keep from tumbling in.

Then every thing was still.

Reneah could hear her heart beating in her chest.

"Anubis, are you alright back there?" lisped Artemis.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Should we continue?"

Nothing had happened for at least 10 minutes.

"Um, alright. It was probably just a rock-"

WAM!!!!!!!!!

That time, the boat turned almost sideways. Mossa let out a shriek to shame a banshee.

"SSSSSSHHHHHHHRRRRRRREEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKK!!!!!!!"

Somehow, Reneah managed to stay in the boat, as did Artemis and the terror stricken Mossa whose snout was about one inch away from the water.

The Reneah heard a splash and a yelp behind her.

"ANUBIS!!" she screamed and spun around.

Artemis managed to balance out the boat and looked to where the fox had fallen in. She was not to worried as she knew Anubis was a strong swimmer.

Until she saw ripples moving toward the boat.

"ANUBIS!! PIKE!" she yelled out desperately as some large teeth filled jaws snapped him.

Anubis clutched his bleeding arm and caught on to the side of the boat.

Reneah was ridged to her seat, and then sprang into action and snatched his good arm.

But the larger fish had his side clamped in it's jaws. They needed a strong beast, almost as strong as a pike...

"MOSSA!!"

Fortunately, the badger did not shy back but in desperation gave the fish a heavy clomp to the snout and hauled Anubis and Reneah back into the punt.

The pike now had a large swelling lump on its snout and thrashed back down stream, away from their punt.

Artemis leapt up to the punter's position and pushed them on down the stream.

"I can see the Abbey's spire, just a bit farther." Panted Mossa, who hadn't yet registered that she had got the front of her habit soaked.

Reneah crawled across the boat to Anubis and tried to stop the bleeding from the gashes on his side and arm.

"Just a bit farther... you can make it."

"Good job Reneah matey, I really think you're getting the hang of this! Soon you'll be as good as any old riverdog!" the Skipper of Otters chuckled as Reneah did a beautiful breaststroke across the abbey pond.

Reneah's heart soared as she saw Artemis applauding from the dock..

Ever since the pike episode, Reneah had been very enthusiastic in swimming and had convinced Skipper to give her lessons.

"Hey Mossa, do you want to have a go, it's really fun!" she called to the badger who was walking past the pond carrying a large canvas with a picture of the abbey belltower. Artemis had said that for Mossa's "labors" she owed her three cans of paint and a new paintbrush, which Mossa had been using vigorously.

The badgermaid stuck her long snout up at the site of the pond. "Ugh! In /there/? No way!"

"Well, if you're /sure/." Teased Reneah.

Mossa sniffed. "I painted this picture for Anubis, and I was going to go visit him in the Infirmy, do you want to come?"

"Sure!" said Reneah happily, quickly toweling herself off and running after Mossa leaving wet paw prints in her wake.

Mossa shuddered and hugged her precious art supplies to her. Water! Uggh! What did this hare see in it?

Lambsbain, the blind rabbit Infirmy Keeper carried a damp rag over to his young patients bed and pressed it to his forehead.

"How are you feeling, Anubis?"

Anubis moaned. His chest and right arm where swathed in bandages and on top of that he had a cold in the head from the unexpected dunking.

""Well, it's easier to breath, but my arm's still sore and-AH-CHOO!"

Lambsbain felt around for a handkercheif and handed it to him.

"Still got that cold then, eh?"

Anubis nodded miserably.

Lambsbain cut off the old bandages on Anubis' arm and started to gently bathe the wound.

Suddenly, the rabbit healer's ears pricked towards the door.

"Who's there? Mossa, and somebeast else, by he sounds of it, not many badgers about the abbey.

Mossa was surprised he knew she was there, because she hadn't had a chance to knock, and even more surprised that he could tell who she was.

"Erm, yes, it's Mossa and Reneah here, wondering if we can visited Anubis?"

"I don't see why not, come on in."

Mossa pushed aside the door and walked across the room to where Anubis was lying. Reneah followed shyly.

"Um, I painted you this, it's the belltower, you know, the first place we went together as dibbuns."

Anubis smiled though he still looked pained. "Heheh, do I ever!"

Reneah felt a momentary pang of regret that she could share no such common memories with any of the teens or preteens at the abbey, she had come to Redwall only two years ago.

Lambsbain's sensitive ears turned towards the stained glass window.

"Some sort of commotion outside, go have a look Reneah."

Reneah opened the window and peered over the sill.

"It's the rest of the otter crew, they're back from fishing!"

Mossa stood next to Reneah and Lambsbain helped Anubis limp to the window.

Skipper's mate, Wavefur, called out joyfully to the Redwallers.

"'Tis been a great day's fishin' mates, you won't believe what we caught! A giant pike, we'll be feastin' on this fellow for days to come! 'Ee wasn't to hard to catch though, 'ee was half dead already from a big blow to the head."


End file.
